The present invention relates to a pickup truck attachment and especially to a multiuse rigid platform which acts as a cover for the cargo space of the pickup truck but is readily detachable for other uses.
In the past, it has been common to provide pickup trucks with a wide variety of attachments for fitting into the cargo space. A common attachment is for tool boxes which are mounted in the cargo space and attached to the sides of the cargo space. There have also been a variety of dog boxes for attaching in pickup trucks as well as various types of camping bodies including covers for the cargo space or truck bed and there have been folding canopies and tent structures as well as camper bodies attachable to the cargo space of the truck.
In my prior U.S. Pat. No. 5,018,778 for a Pickup Truck Attachment Apparatus, I provided a truck attachment which allows a pickup truck to be used for carrying a dog box, a camping enclosure, and mounting seats on the back of the truck. In addition, the attachment provided for storage space and a foldable tent structure which could be mounted to the top thereof.
Typical prior art patents which show collapsible canopies or tent structures for pickup truck cargo space can also be seen in the Feather U.S. Pat. No. 3,688,787 for a longitudinal collapsible canopy for pickup trucks and analogous frames and in the Westmoreland U.S. Pat. No. 2,436,736 for a collapsible canopy frame for a pickup truck and in the Rodrigue U.S. Pat. No. 4,252,363 for a foldaway canopy for a flatbed truck. Also in U.S. Pat. No. 4,310,914 to Billet for a tent camper for a pickup truck and in the Bouregois U.S. Pat. No. 4,289,346 for a collapsible protective mechanism for a pickup truck and in the Cook U.S. Pat. No. 2,670,988 for a folding pickup truck top. These patents typically have a flexible canopy or tent covering material and a plurality of frame members which can be set up or folded to support the canopy to enclose all or part of the cargo space of a pickup truck.
In the Knaack et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,573,731, a vehicle storage drawer unit attaches to the bottom of a pickup truck cargo space to define a storage drawer which can still carry a load on top of the drawer. In the LeVee U.S. Pat. No. 4,685,695, a watertight, secured truck enclosure is provided in the pickup truck cargo space and the Musgrove et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,216,990 is a waterproof truck bed cover. The Ogilvie U.S. Pat. No. 3,245,713 is for a pickup truck body construction and the Beals U.S. Pat. No. 4,531,775 is a load bearing security cover for a pickup truck.
In contrast to the prior art, patents for a pickup truck cargo space tarps and covers, the present invention provides for a rigid supporting platform and cover hingedly mounted to the pickup truck which is rapidly detachable and which converts to an attachment for a boat or for the floor of a tent structure which also has supports for supporting the rigid cover and platform in different raised positions.